NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was at the June 12th Kultaranta Talks in Finland. He spoke with Finnish president Sauli Niinisto about the Russo-Ukrainian War. While neither outright endorsed the ceding of territory to Russia, they both strongly insinuated that the war would end this way.
Stoltenberg stated that the supply of weapons to Ukraine was only to “strengthen their hand“ for an eventually negotiated peace. Similar statements have already been made by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs Mark Miley.
Stoltenberg suggested that the war in Ukraine would end the same war as the 1939 Finnish-Soviet “Winter War.” Finland signed the Moscow Treaty of 1940 and ceded 9% of its land. Finland later joined Germany’s “Anti-Comintern Pact” in 1941 and participated in Operation Barbarossa. They called this “The Continuation War.” They signed a new armistice with Moscow in 1944, agreed to pay reparations to the Soviet Union, and expelled the German army from Lappland. Finland signed a final version of the Moscow Treaty in 1947.
Stoltenberg said that Finland’s settlement with the Soviet Union was “one of the reasons Finland was able to come out of the Second World War as an independent sovereign nation.” He stated, “Peace is possible. The only question is what price are you willing to pay for Peace? How much territory, how much independence, how much sovereignty…are you willing to sacrifice for Peace?”
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto stated, “We understand that it is very difficult for Ukraine after all this fighting to give up their land. But seeing that Russia would lose all its holdings is not at this point foreseeable. Gaining Peace is absolutely difficult.”
Meanwhile, Lloyd Austin is now describing the “Asia/Pacific region,” not Ukraine, as America’s primary concern. At a fundraiser in Los Angeles, US President Joe Biden criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he failed to prepare for the invasion after warnings from the USA.
